The first auction held under California's ground-breaking carbon cap and trade program was declared a "success" Monday by state officials.

Several businesses with San Joaquin County connections registered to participate in last Wednesday's auction, but the state Air Resources Board released no specifics about whether those businesses actually submitted bids or, if they did, what their price was.

"This is an important milestone for our state as a leader in the global clean technology market," said Mary Nichols, chair of the air board. "By putting a price on carbon, we can break our unhealthy dependence on fossil fuels and move at full speed toward a clean energy future."

Under the cap and trade program, businesses that emit a certain amount of carbon must either reduce those emissions or purchase "allowances," or permits, from other businesses.

All available allowances for next year were sold during the closed-door auction. That's about 23.1 million allowances, each worth a ton of carbon.

The results of the auction set the price at $10.09 per allowance, just above the minimum $10 reserve price.

Nichols said that's good news for businesses, some of which have warned of the burdensome cost of complying with the regulation. The state Chamber of Commerce filed a lawsuit to block the program last week, although the auction continued as scheduled.

"We're delighted," Nichols said. "Our goal is to reduce carbon at a good price in a way that is flexible for the companies that are covered. We feel like we're showing that is actually going to work."

State officials said the auction was "competitive," with three times as many bids submitted as the number of allowances available.